by Summer Lee

The History of Fashion for Getting Physical

Dress has an inseparable relationship to the body. As such, throughout the history of modern fashion, physical fitness has always played a role. However, while sportswear fashions for activities like hunting, tennis, swimming, and bicycling have long histories, clothing specific to indoor exercise didn’t always have a place in a woman’s wardrobe.

Today’s massive market for exercise fashion has truly only been around since the “fitness craze” began in the seventies. However, that certainly doesn’t mean that women weren’t working out before that!

Continue reading to discover the evolution of workout fashion from the twenties through the eighties, accompanied by vintage photographs, illustrations, and advertisements!

In a 1923 Vogue article, the author lamented that while anyone could achieve the figure of a Gibson Girl through padding and corsetry, “it really seems as if none but the emaciated could get into” the fashionable silhouette of the 1920s. Indeed, the straight silhouette made women much more body-conscious than fashions of the previous era. This lead to a growing interest in “reducing flesh” through restrictive dieting and physical exercise. Of course, some retailers advertised drugs and rubber garments that would supposedly lead to weight-loss without diet or drudgery.

A 1920 article in Ladies’ Home Journal described types of indoor exercises in detail. They included housework (or the gymnasium for women of means), stair climbing, dancing, fencing, self-resistive exercise (carried out to the point of perspiration), running in place, and gymnastic exercises. (It’s worth noting that due to the popularity of the short, shingle haircut, exercises for the “chin-to throat line” were also encouraged.)

That same article advised: “If you are a woman, never exercise in corsets nor with any restricting bands or clothes that hamper.”

So what was a fashionable woman in 1920s to wear when engaging in indoor physical exercise? I found that the answer was not so straight-forward.

It seems that for stretching and light exercises, women commonly wore garments intended for leisure. In the year 1920, Good Housekeeping published monthly articles on “exercise and home hygiene.” The articles included illustrations of women dressed in pajama sets and kimono-inspired robes. In 1923, the magazine published an article on “the value and need of exercise,” where the illustrated figure appears to wear lingerie. 

I also came across a 1928 Ladies’ Home Journal article titled “Stretch and Grow Slim,” where the model was photographed exercising in a bathing-suit and swimming shoes. I also came across several published photographs of women exercising dressed in costumes inspired by Ancient Greece, conjuring visions of Olympians.

Another place to look for exercise fashion was the “gym suit,” an ensemble worn by students for athletic and gymnasium activities. Throughout the 1920s, a girls’ gym suit included a “middy blouse” with a sailor collar and bloomer shorts worn over stockings. The bloomer shorts ended at the knee, and were so full and pleated that they resembled skirts. This was the ideal ensemble for gymnasium use and indoor sports, such as basketball.

In the 1930s, regular exercise was intended to “slenderize” and “destroy lumpiness.” Other desirable health benefits included strengthening of muscles and improved blood circulation. To quote a 1935 issue of Parents’ Magazine: “Yes, to look and feel like a conquering heroine, you must exercise every day.” And unlike the previous decade, general housework was not thought to be sufficient because it didn’t work all the muscles.

Leisurewear such a pajamas remained appropriate for light, at-home exercise. A photograph accompanying the Parents’ Magazine article depicted a woman doing leg lifts on her bedroom floor, wearing lightweight pajamas and slippers.

As I had found in the decade before, 1930s magazines demonstrated exercises on models wearing bathing suits. At this point in my research, I had to wonder: did women really put on swimwear to work out, or did the magazines do this to best show off the moves? The answer seems to be yes, bathing suits truly were a go-to to work out in. After all, they were meant to become wet and soiled. Of course, there were other garment options that were appropriate for sweating in, like sportswear. Perhaps more importantly, they were unrestrictive and skin-tight, which are still desirable traits in activewear today.

The 1920s sailor-style girls’ gym suit remained regulation for several years into the 1930s, until it was gradually replaced by a new style of one-piece v-neck gym suit. By 1934, pleated bloomers and the sailor collar were officially out of fashion. Then, the transition from late 1930s to early 1940s was manifested at the gym suit’s neckline and in the cut of the shorts. Schoolgirls traded in their v-necks for collars with center-front closures and their bloomer shorts for “shortie” shorts that ended at mid-thigh. Just like before, the old and new styles co-existed for a few years. Yet by 1942 the gym suit was in full-fledged 1940s style, with collar, center-front buttons, short sleeves, full shorts, and a nipped-in waist.

During World War II, wartime patriotism became a motivation for physical fitness. A 1942 article in Ladies’ Home Journal implored teenaged girls to take care of their health so that they may better serve their country. The author wrote: “Perhaps you are hoping to be a canteen worker, a member of the Women’s Motor Corps, a Red Cross nurse. You will not be considered for these jobs if you cannot pass a stringent physical test.”

The story ran with photos of seventeen-year-old Bunny Hinkson and a friend working out at a local (segregated) Y.W.C.A. The author described Bunny as “proud to be one of Uncle Sam’s girls in fighting trim.” During her workout, she wore a long-sleeved white collared shirt tucked into dark, high-waisted shorts, bobby socks and white tennis shoes. Her friend’s outfit was very similar, although she wore a short-sleeved collared shirt, and her shorts were white.

The silhouette of this ensemble was practically universal in 1940s sportswear, both through separates and one-piece playsuits (sometimes with detachable skirts).

Wartime ladies at home were encouraged to stay fit by turning their daily household chores into a workout routine. For example, vigorous window-washing was thought to “develop” the bosom and keep arms firm. Waxing the floor on one’s hands and knees was considered an excellent exercise for flattening the abdomen. We can imagine there may have been an implication that an “out of shape” woman was not performing her household chores sufficiently. 

Women’s fashions of the late 1940s and early 1950s post-war period were characterized by hyper-femininity, romanticism, and historicism. The highly desirable hourglass figure was virtually unobtainable without body-shaping foundation garments like bullet bras and girdles. However, women were certainly interested in trying to obtain the ideal body — especially the bust — without such devices.

They sought to “perfect” their figures through dieting, counting calories, and exercise. As of 1956, it was believed that exercises like dancing, walking, and stretching were just as important to health as was diet. An additional motivator was new scientific research that placed more value on exercise than ever before.

Perhaps, then, it should be no surprise that I found greater variety in exercise-wear of the 1950s.

Similar to the previous decade, women continued to exercise in sportswear separates and one-piece playsuits.

Popular styles in bottoms included mid-calf length pedal pushers, Bermuda shorts, and “short” shorts — frequently in denim. Not unlike the 1940s, a collared shirt was still the go-to pairing. In the warmer seasons, fashionable options for collared shirts included a halter style and tie-front style, and they were commonly sleeveless. However, collars were not the only option for sports and play tops. A page from a 1955 Sears Catalog includes a knit tube top and camisole as alternative fashionable options.

One-piece “play suits” and “sun suits” can be seen in a page from a 1953 Sears Catalog. While the polka-dotted play-suit-and-skirt ensemble closely resemble styles of the 1940s, the other styles can be seen as a departure into a more feminine and less utilitarian fashion.

Glimpses of 1950s workout-wear in action can be seen in contemporary photographs. A 1953 Seventeen article profiling a Hollywood drama program featured a small photograph of students in a physical fitness class. Photographed from behind, the young women wore sleeveless blouses and shockingly short shorts! Both sportswear separates and one-piece playsuits were photographed at “group figuring” classes in 1957 and 1958. (Think of Midge’s workout class in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel!)

A 1958 article in Better Homes and Gardens outlined a musical exercise program to do at home. Readers were promised that the result of their daily exercise and dieting would be “a trimmer figure, a younger, more glamorous you.” For the energetic routine consisting of arm-circles and hip-thrusts, the author suggested wearing “a bright leotard, or shorts and a blouse, or a not-too-tight bathing suit” for the routine. The article was accompanied by a colorful photograph of a woman wearing a sleeveless, pedal-pusher-length blue leotard with a round neckline. In her hair, she wore a white headband. The look was completed with red lipstick and nails.

The leotard was a skin-tight body garment of various silhouettes that originated from acrobats. It did exist in 1940s fashion, but was mostly worn for layering purposes, especially in cold weather. The earliest example I could find of even professional dancers wearing leotards was 1949. By the late-1950s, brands such as Danskin and Capezio were advertising leotards for dance and exercise, as well as for leisure and daily wear.

The ideal body of the 1960s shifted away from feminine and mature towards thin and youthful. Greater importance was placed on attractive legs, as hemlines were getting shorter and shorter. It perhaps isn’t a coincidence, then, that the popularity of physical fitness was on the rise.

A 1963 article in Redbook explained to readers how to know which exercises they needed to “have a better figure.” They were first instructed to examine their nude bodies in a mirror, checking for “double chin, thickening waist, bulging thighs. If they’re there, you must exercise.” Afterwards, they were told to “put on a playsuit or leotard” and give themselves a fitness test.

The leotard was the workout uniform of the 1960s. It came in many variations of cut, color, and print. While it was most commonly worn in the brief-bottom swimsuit style, leotards were also worn as a full-body-suit with long pant legs. Sleeves could be long, short, or nonexistent. Necklines were commonly round, though turtlenecks were also popular. (And who could forget Debbie Drake’s iconic collared leotard?) Brief-bottom leotards were cut at the very top of the thigh, and were usually worn with tights underneath. It was especially fashionable to wear brightly-colored tights in a contrasting color to the leotard.

Yoga was a very fashionable form of exercise in the 1960s. In fact, Cosmopolitan did a feature on Audrey Hepburn’s yoga-like stretching practice in 1959. The story ran with many photos of Hepburn in a “brilliant red leotard,” which had long sleeves and ended all the way at her toes.

A 1961 article in Seventeen magazine told its young audience: “Developed centuries ago in India, as part of a mental discipline, yoga exercises are becoming more and more popular now in the West.” Advocates for yoga felt that “Western calisthenics” depleted one’s physical energy, whereas yoga restored it with the added benefit of achieving peace. The article demonstrated yoga postures on a model wearing vibrant, Harlequin-esque exercise outfits by Capezio. Yoga for physical fitness continued to gain popularity in the ensuing decade.

Women’s fashion in the 1970s can be considered a very beige attempt to return to modernity after the psychedelic, post-modern fashions of the 1960s. However, exercise fashions of the 1970s were actually not a great departure from the decade before. Even still, exercise clothes experienced a major boom. In 1974, Women’s Wear Daily reported that many department stores nationwide were planning to open exercise boutiques. That seems to correspond to the introduction of the “Sears Exercise Shop” in their catalog.

While not her only option, the leotard and tights remained the fashionable woman’s main workout uniform.

First published in 1970, Essence is a lifestyle magazine created for African-American women, a historically overlooked demographic. In March of 1975, Essence put a young, working mother named Mary Ann Mickens on the cover. As part of her feature, the magazine sent her to an exercise class to address the physical tolls of working a desk job. Mary Ann wore a short-sleeved leotard by Danskin over footless tights — an ensemble that wouldn’t have looked out of place ten years earlier.

Although workout ensembles of the 1960s and the 1970s had many similarities, subtle differences set them apart.

Fashionable colors of the seventies were muted compared to the vibrant colors and prints of the sixties. Popular leotard colors included pink, beige, and brown, as well as dark green and shades of blue. Contemporary images frequently show women matching the color of their tights to their leotards, creating a monochrome look.

Other differences are noticeable in cut. The turtlenecks and rounded necklines of the 1960s were still in fashion, but innovations in 1970s womenswear were also influential on activewear. Diane von Furstenberg invented the wrap dress in 1974, and its silhouette spread like wildfire. In the same spirit, some leotards featured a deep-v or surplice neckline.

In their collection, the Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art possesses a 1976 leotard designed by Bonnie August for Danskin (accession number 2003.353.4). The dark brown leotard has long sleeves and featured the very fashionable wrap silhouette. Its style resembles the center leotard depicted in a Danskin advertisement from the same year. However, the version in the ad is sleeveless and a steely blue color. The purple leotard on the left features thin straps, a plunging v-neck, and we can see its open back in the mirror reflection. Surely it would have been far too scandalous for mainstream fashion of previous decades!

Leotards were also worn for outdoor exercise in late 1970s, as part of the “exersuit.” The exersuit was a stretchy, knit sportswear ensemble that came in several style variations. It was composed of a leotard (or “bodysuit”) worn under boxer shorts or drawstring pants. The exersuits that paired collared bodysuits with matching shorts remind me of the 1940s gym suit silhouette!

In 1979, Vogue wrote a profile on Jane Fonda, who had recently opened her own exercise studio, “The Workout.” The actress and activist took an interdisciplinary approach to exercise, and found joy in sharing her passions for calisthenics and dance with other women.

Photos of Fonda during this time serve as excellent examples of the workout ensemble’s transition into 1980s fashion. In the 1979 Vogue feature, Fonda wore a sleeveless, pink v-neck leotard over black tights with black leg warmers. In a 1980 Ladies’ Home Journal feature, Fonda wore a green v-neck leotard with short sleeves over what appears to be black stirrup or footless tights and black leg warmers.

Both ensembles closely resemble those advertised in a 1983 Sears catalog. These leotards and tights pictured are truly no different from those of the 1970s. What really sets them apart are the accessories: a sweatband and leg-warmers. Leg warmers were considered both fashionable and practical. They were thought to prevent leg injuries and muscle cramps.

The 1980s is well-remembered for its “fitness craze” — something that was heavily acknowledged by contemporaries. And yet, until this point, fashion really only affected activewear in small ways. Any student of fashion knows that perhaps its most imperative characteristic is constant change. If a 1980s woman could still pass for fashionable while working out in her mother’s old leotard, the fashion industry was at a major disadvantage.

However, suddenly there was massive consumer demand for more fashionable activewear, in large part due to the growing social aspect of working out at a gym. The fashion industry clearly rose to the challenge.

Vicki Lindner wrote a very illuminating article on the subject for Cosmopolitan in 1984. It began: “Once upon a time the Sensible Girl did her sit-ups and thigh lifts in a corroded black leotard — vintage ’74 — and tattered maroon tights … She felt thoroughly at home in this comfortable old costume … the gym was the last place she thought of fashion … In the eighties, the Sensible Girl saw that things had changed.”

She went on to urge Cosmopolitan readers to “enhance” their fitness style, because the gym was now akin to a singles bar. As such, “the garments you choose for shape-keeping activities must be capable of demanding work as well as allure.” She advised they do so by purchasing three exercise ensembles: “leotards and tights, shorts and a T-shirt, and a warmup suit of fleece or velour.” While the separate pieces could be worn in many combinations for different fitness settings, the leotard still reigned supreme in the gym.

There were so many fashionable leotard styles to choose from that it’s essentially impossible to describe them all — although a picture is worth a thousand words! In 1988, Good Housekeeping ran a story featuring thirteen new workout ensembles. Among the garments pictured are leotards, unitards, tights, capri tights, bike shorts, crop tops, suspender tops, and “trunks” (for that underwear-as-outerwear look.) Colors ranged from light pastels to bold primaries.

Fashionable fabrics options for 1980s leotards included glitter, the “wet look,” stripes, polka dots, and geometric patterns. Lindner warned fitness novices not to reach for something in basic black because bright, shimmering fabrics and prints were actually more flattering. Vivid colors enhanced the “exercise glow,” and contrasting colors optically segmented the body.

Lindner also sang the praises of the versatile “warm-up” suit (or sweatsuit), the most fashionable of which could even be worn to brunch. Fleeced warm-up sportswear were a go-to option for fitness activities like jogging, both indoors and outdoors. The 1982 Sears advertisement below depicts two ensembles: a pullover, crew-neck sweatshirt with sweatpants and a hooded, zipper-closing sweatshirt, a v-neck pullover striped top, and jogging shorts.

In 1987, Essence published a story on “Working Out At Work,” about employers with on-site fitness facilities. The article included a photograph of Sandra Timble, a marketing associate employed in Purchase, New York. She told Essence that she attended stretch-and-tone classes, worked out with weights, and enjoyed working out at lunchtime. In the photograph, Sandra reads the newspaper while on a stationary bicycle, wearing a light-colored pullover sweatshirt and dark sweatpants.

The atmosphere of the fitness craze inevitably impacted how women felt about their bodies. That certainly isn’t to say that previous decades promoted positive body-image — recall that 1923 Vogue quote from earlier. However, the 1980s ideal body was more unattainable than ever for the average woman. It was not only thin, but also muscular while remaining feminine. 

Below are some rare glimpses of plus-size women in 1980s workout gear. In magazines, plus-sized women were most commonly represented in “before” photos. Articles about successful weight-loss stories were very popular, and methods even included chronic dieting, diet drugs, fasting, and having one’s jaw wired shut.

Although still decades away from the Body Positivity Movement of the 2010s, one 1986 Essence article cut through the noise of the status quo. The author, Cheryl Everette, wrote:

“Feeling like defects in the fitness factory can be so demoralizing that we see ourselves as losers, go back to covering ourselves up or, to make matters worse, walk around slumped or hunched over hoping no one will notice just how imperfect we are. It’s time we stopped — stopped buying into the American culture trap that tells us what beauty and fitness are … The only way for us to free ourselves from ‘failing’ to live up to the American beauty fantasy is to throw away those externally imposed ideas and find our own role models.”

How do you channel vintage style into your workout? Does it make you feel more confident and empowered?

Show us by tagging The Vintage Woman Magazine in your pictures on social media!

References:

Bartolucci, Vivienne. “Follow the Music for a Fine Figure.” Better Homes and Gardens, January 1958, 72-74, 96, 98.

Eaton, Jeanette. “Exercise!” Parents’ Magazine, 01, 1935, 54-55.

Everette, Cheryl. “Celebrate Your Body!” Essence, January 1986, 50-51, 54.

Farr, Louise. “Jane Fonda.” Ladies’ Home Journal, April 1980, 37-40.

“Figure it Right.” Seventeen, October 1954, 68-69.

Hillis, Marjorie. “Fashion: Fitting the Flat Back to the Full Figure.” Vogue, November 15, 1923, 44, 45, 128.

“How To Have A Better Figure: Do You Need More Exercise?” Redbook, March 1963, 75-82.

Laurka. “Stretch and Grow Slim: Morning and Evening Exercise.” Ladies’ Home Journal, 04, 1928, 191.

“Lazybones Exercises.” Seventeen, 05, 1956, 74.

Lindner, Vicki. “Getting Together a (Sexy!) Workout Wardrobe.” Cosmopolitan, May 1984, 228, 230, 232.

Louise, Paine Benjamin. “In Trim for Tomorrow.” Ladies’ Home Journal, August 1942, 83.

Miller, Edwin and Sara Salzer. “More than Talent.” Seventeen, March 1953, 128-129.

Ruffner, Zoe. “Jane Fonda’s 1979 Fitness Advice Is the Secret to Looking Good Forever.” Vogue. May 25, 2017. https://www.vogue.com/article/jane-fonda-vogue-fitness-feature.

Sadler, William S. and Lena K. Sadler. “Why We Get Fat And What To Do About It: Exercise In Relation To Reducing.” Ladies’ Home Journal, August 1920, 91, 146, 149.

“The Hosiery: Exercise Clothes Newest Hot Seller: Bodywear Yields to Exercise Clothes.” Womens Wear Daily, June 21, 1974, 1, 18.

“The Total Woman: Professional and Personal.” Essence, March 1975, 52-73.

Villarosa, Linda. “Working Out at Work.” Essence, March 1987, 106, 108.

Waldman, Joyce. “Audrey’s Fantastic Figure.” Cosmopolitan, June 1959, 62-65.

“Yoga: Ancient Beauty Secret.” Seventeen, November 1961, 100-101.

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